Chris Wild of How to be a Retronaut

Chris Wild is the creator of the blog How To Be A Retronaut. He believes that by changing the way we think of time, we can open up its creative possibilities. He calls himself a 'retronaut', which he defines as 'someone who goes back in time using just perception.' To this end, he has built a virtual time-machine. It's called the Retroscope, a piece of software that uses millions of historic images, drawings, engravings and films, overlaid on maps or organized into 3D models, to create a map of England (and, in due course, the world) so that we can look at any place, and scroll back in time, seeing that place change over time. The Retroscope website is due to launch later this year. Photos come from museums and other collections, but individuals will also be able to contribute their own. Chris will be speaking at TEDGlobal 2010.

CHRIS CHOOSES SIX FAVOURITE SITES

Shorpy - A showcase for historic images from America's Library of Congress (LoC).  So far, so meh.  What sets Shorpy apart is that the LoC images are VERY VERY high resolution, and Shorpy serves up a beautful hi-res slice of time onto your plate every single day.  If you need to see the sweat on the faces of your ancestors, Shorpy comes through for you.  Like Shorpy  says, always something interesting

Retrofuturs - Imagine a second-hand book-shop full of vintage Penguin paperbacks, run by the cast of Star Wars.  Voila Retrofuturs, the divine design of Stephane Missa-Bidal, who manages to create inspirational images with the same frequency that some of us have a shower.  Stephane crashes a spaceship into her book of fonts and proclaims it genius and so do I.  The Retronaut's Graphic Designer of choice.

Room 26 - Yale's cabinet of curiosities.  Enough said.  What, you want more?  Err...ok, so you have Yale's Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts and Yales's Curator of Poetry for American Literature picking up pieces from the depths of their collections and saying "Well, would you look at that?!".  "That" including an advert for "Dr Carver's High Diving Horse", portraits of Dick Griffith, Bull-Rider (a bull-rider? Y'know, a guy who rides bulls), the Pocket Dictionary of Sabotage, and a letter from Mark Twain to Walt Whitman on his 70th birthday.

Lady Crafthole - Roundography. Like photography but round.  Lady Crafthole aka Lucy Martin is the expert in capturing planets and wormholes (that's the two types of roundographs. Keep up) The great thing about Lady Crafthole's pictures is that (like all the best art) they look almost nothing like reality. Or as she puts it: "Far from simply setting down moments as we see them, photography has the power to reveal the ordinary world in ways never possible before". She's right. A photographer of spectacular talent. 

Awkward Family Photos - Its strapline is "Spreading the awkwardness" and as a mirror to your and my deepest fears, it is unparalleled.  Seriously, if you need me to explain the appeal of an awkward family photo, then its not for you.  Just don't go there.  These are not the droids you're looking for.  Move along. Move along.

The Echo Park Time-travel Mart - Imagine a Millets for Time-Lords. No, seriously, imagine a Millets for Time-Lords.  So we're talking dinosaur eggs, chain-mail, klaxons, anti-barbarian repellant, Roman centurion helmets, mammoth chunks and viking oderant. I wouldn't shop anywhere else.  This is a real shop, it is also the front for the 826 charity's one-on-one creative writing coaching for  kids in L.A. 826 was set up by Dave Eggars, and does great work.  But hey, more to the point,  they sell time-machine fuel, and I really have to be some-when...

8 June 2010